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1972 Dallas Cowboys season

NFL team season

NFL team season

FieldValue
teamDallas Cowboys
year1972
record10–4
division_place2nd NFC East
coachTom Landry
ownerClint Murchison, Jr.
stadiumTexas Stadium
playoffsWon Divisional Playoffs
(at 49ers) 30–28
Lost NFC Championship
(at Redskins) 3–26
shortnavlinkCowboys seasons

(at 49ers) 30–28 Lost NFC Championship (at Redskins) 3–26

The 1972 Dallas Cowboys season was their 13th in the league. The team failed to improve their previous output of 11–3, winning ten games. They qualified for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season but settled for the wildcard spot. A pre-season injury to quarterback Roger Staubach and the trade of Duane Thomas (both had been integral figures in the 1971 championship team) hindered the offense, although this was mitigated somewhat since their replacements of Craig Morton and Calvin Hill were both former starters.

In the divisional playoff round, Staubach came off the bench to engineer an improbable 30–28 comeback win over the 49ers (Dallas had trailed by 28–16 with less than 2 minutes to play). The win over the 49ers still ranks as one of the all-time great Cowboys wins. However, the momentum could not carry them to a victory over Washington in the NFC Championship game.

NFL draft

Main article: 1972 NFL draft

Regular season

Roger Staubach was lost in the 3rd pre season game with the Los Angeles Rams when Marlin McKeever tackled him. It required him to get a shoulder operation. Veteran backup Quarterback Craig Morton would lead the Cowboys for the 1972 season. When the Cowboys got down in the December 23 playoff game Tom Landry inserted Roger who led them to a come from behind 30–28 victory over San Francisco. In 1972 the Cowboys would build up big leads in games only to hang on to win. Some examples of this would be Monday Night October 30 when they hosted Detroit, the November 5 game in San Diego, a November 12 game at home versus St. Louis, and the December 9 home game against Washington. The December 18, 1972 Sports Illustrated ran a story on the 1972 Dallas Cowboys surrounding their game with the Washington Redskins on pages 20–23, and featuring Cowboy middle linebacker #55 Lee Roy Jordan on the cover.

Still another factor in the Cowboys 1972 season was that All Pro defensive tackle Bob Lilly played through an injury to his back for most all of the year, along with a bone spur near his heel and an injured muscle just above his knee. Lilly was furthermore selected for his 10th Pro Bowl but did not play in the game at Texas Stadium. Lilly had 2 1/2 sacks on the season, while overall the team totaled 32.

Schedule

Dallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"WeekDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"DateDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"OpponentDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"ResultDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"RecordDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"Game SiteDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"AttendanceDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"Recap1234567891011121314
September 17Philadelphia EaglesW 28–61–0Texas Stadium55,850Recap
September 24at New York GiantsW 23–142–0Yankee Stadium62,725Recap
October 1at Green Bay PackersL 13–162–1Milwaukee County Stadium47,103Recap
October 8Pittsburgh SteelersW 17–133–1Texas Stadium65,682Recap
October 15at Baltimore ColtsW 21–04–1Memorial Stadium58,992Recap
October 22at Washington RedskinsL 20–244–2RFK Stadium53,039Recap
Detroit LionsW 28–245–2Texas Stadium65,378Recap
November 5at San Diego ChargersW 34–286–2San Diego Stadium54,476Recap
November 12St. Louis CardinalsW 33–247–2Texas Stadium65,218Recap
November 19at Philadelphia EaglesW 28–78–2Veterans Stadium65,720Recap
November 23San Francisco 49ersL 10–318–3Texas Stadium65,124Recap
December 3at St. Louis CardinalsW 27–69–3Busch Memorial Stadium49,787Recap
Washington RedskinsW 34–2410–3Texas Stadium65,136Recap
December 17New York GiantsL 3–2310–4Texas Stadium64,602Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

First quarter

  • PHI – Tom Dempsey 30 yard field goal, Eagles 3–0 Second quarter
  • PHI – Tom Dempsey 42 yard field goal, Eagles 6–0
  • DAL – Ron Sellers 37 yard pass from Craig Morton (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 7–6 Third quarter
  • DAL – Lance Alworth 13 yard pass from Craig Morton (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 14–6
  • DAL – Calvin Hill 3 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 21–6 Fourth quarter
  • DAL – Robert Newhouse 1 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 28–6 Top passers
  • PHI – John Reaves – 11/19, 143 yards, 2 interceptions
  • DAL – Craig Morton – 13/26, 235 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions Top rushers
  • PHI – Po James – 13 carries, 28 yards
  • DAL – Calvin Hill – 17 carries, 65 yards, 1 touchdown Top receivers
  • PHI – Harold Jackson – 9 receptions, 161 yards
  • DAL – Ron Sellers – 3 receptions, 88 yards, 1 touchdown

Week 2: at New York Giants

First quarter

  • DAL – Walt Garrison 1 yard run (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 7–0 Second quarter
  • DAL – Toni Fritsch 54 yard field goal, Cowboys 10–0
  • NYG – Rich Houston 55 yard pass from Norm Snead (Pete Gogolak kick), Cowboys 10–7 Third quarter
  • DAL – Toni Fritsch 13 yard field goal, Cowboys 13–7 Fourth quarter
  • DAL – Toni Fritsch 8 yard field goal, Cowboys 16–7
  • NYG – Rich Houston 94 yard pass from Norm Snead (Pete Gogolak kick), Cowboys 16–14
  • DAL – Lance Alworth 3 yard pass from Craig Morton (Toni Fritsch kick), Cowboys 23–14 Top passers
  • DAL – Craig Morton – 15/27, 158 yards, 1 touchdown
  • NYG – Norm Snead – 19/26, 298 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception Top rushers
  • DAL – Calvin Hill – 20 carries, 91 yards
  • NYG – Ron Johnson – 14 carries, 42 yards Top receivers
  • DAL – Billy Parks – 4 receptions, 49 yards
  • NYG – Rich Houston – 5 receptions, 175 yards, 2 touchdowns

Playoffs

Main article: 1972–73 NFL playoffs

Dallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"RoundDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"DateDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"OpponentDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"ResultDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"Game SiteDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"AttendanceDallas Cowboysyear=1972border=2}}"RecapDivisionalNFC Championship
at San Francisco 49ersW 30–28Candlestick Park61,214Recap
December 31, 1972at Washington RedskinsL 3–26RFK Stadium53,129Recap

Standings

Season recap

The Dallas Cowboys since its inception have always had cheerleaders, but during the team preparations to defend their World Championship title in 1972, a turning point in cheerleader history would be made with the creation of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, wearing new star spangled uniforms and performing dance routines, instead of the traditional acrobatic displays.

The Cowboys qualified for the playoffs a record seventh consecutive year.

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1972 roster
Quarterbacks

Trivia

This season marks the first time in Cowboys history they wore their white jerseys for every game. The second and only other time so far was 2010.

Publications

  • The Football Encyclopedia
  • Total Football
  • Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes

References

References

  1. "1972 Dallas Cowboys". Pro Football Reference.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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